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German firm Allianz Insurance Group has been given the go-ahead by regulators to invest in China's largest bank.

 

"We received approval from the China Banking Regulatory Commission last week on Allianz's strategic investment in ICBC (the Industrial & Commercial Bank of China)," Werner Zedelius, board member of Allianz Insurance Group, told China Daily.

 

Allianz Group, in partnership with Goldman Sachs Group and American Express Company, signed a strategic investment and partnership agreement with ICBC in January. It included investments worth US$3.78 billion in ICBC and wide ranging cooperation initiatives.

 

Although Allianz Group's member Dresdner Bank AG operates two branches in Shanghai and Beijing, Allianz's investment in ICBC doesn't mean the Group is striving to tap into China's banking sector, added Zedelius.

 

"We are mainly taking advantage of ICBC's 18,000 outlets to boost our bancassurance business," said Zedelius. Bancassurance is the combination of banking and insurance business within the same organization.

 

Under the agreement with ICBC, Allianz will provide bancassurance products and services to the bank's clients. "In the past two months, our sales in ICBC have taken off," added Zedelius, but he declined to reveal figures.

 

CITIC Trust and Investment became the new joint venture partner of Allianz after snapping up the 49 per cent stake previously held by Dazhong Property and Casualty Insurance Company last October.

 

The 'new' Allianz China Life Insurance saw premium income of more than 289 million yuan (US$35.7 million) by the end of 2005, up by 53 percent on the previous year.

 

Allianz also injected over 50 million yuan (US$6.17 million) into the joint venture after changing its partner, bringing total investment to nearly 400 million yuan (US$49 million), said Christian Molt, CEO of Allianz China Life.

 

"We won't make a huge one-off injection in the Chinese market but will increase our investments step by step to back up more aggressive growth this year," he noted.

 

Molt contributed the JV's impressive growth to better distribution.

 

"We aren't relying on agents anymore," said Molt. "We are turning to alternative sales channel such as bancassurance, brokers and agency companies."

 

Allianze China Life has also been boosted by having more branches.

 

After increasing its outlets in Guangzhou from one to six last year, the JV opened its Hangzhou branch in East China's Zhejiang Province on March 23. It plans to establish branches in Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, depending on when it can be granted a licence.

 

While it is strengthening its life insurance business in China, Allianz is not neglecting its non-life insurance business.

 

Allianz's first property insurance branch in China, Allianz Insurance Company Guangzhou Branch, started operations in February 2003. It offers various kinds of insurance for domestic and foreign clients in Guangzhou.

 

In 2005, the gross written premium of Allianz's property and casualty arm rose by 50 per cent to 85.67 million (US$10.6 million).

 

When focusing on business expansion and enhancing its service network in Guangdong, the Allianz property arm is applying to the Chinese authorities to transform the company from a branch into a subsidiary.

 

"Only with the upgrade can we set up more branches in China," Zedelius explained, adding that the company plans to set up branches in Shanghai, Beijing and other major Chinese cities.

 

"The synergies between the life and non-life insurance operations in China will better meet our customers' diversified demands," said Zedilius.

 

(China Daily April 11, 2006)